CONGRATULATIONS to the country’s 1,724 new lawyers. I am happiest, of course, for the two latest members of our legal team at the Gothong Southern group of companies: Richard Mier and Nikko Jay Gagno. Chad is from Sagbayan, Bohol while Nikko hails from Salay, Misamis Oriental.
I am proud of the bar topnotchers from Cebu and the schools that molded them. The University of San Carlos maintained its place as the best law school in the country with three of its graduates landing in the top ten. The University of Cebu and the University of San Jose-Recoletos had one graduate each in the list of the top 20 bar passers. Take a bow, Deans Joan Largo, Baldomero Estenzo and Jonathan Capanas.
There are actually six law schools in Cebu and I would like to see all of them contribute in building a culture of excellence not only in the bar examinations but more importantly in the practice of law in Cebu in the near future. I’m sure they can do it.
For the second straight year, graduates of provincial schools outperformed their counterparts from the national capital region in the bar exams. In the past, schools like the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila lorded it over the field, leaving the other colleges and universities, including those in Cebu, fighting for crumbs.
Credit the Internet for the change in fortunes. Every law student now has access to the latest laws and jurisprudence, thanks to websites like CDAsia. We had no such help before. Updates came slowly, oftentimes late. When we reviewed for the bar at the UP in 1974 and the professor started talking about the Miranda, most of us were flabbergasted. It was only later that we learned that the Miranda that he was discussing was a doctrine, not a plaza in old Manila.
The Supreme Court can further level the playing field by decentralising the bar exams. I agree with USC Law Dean Joan that having to take the exams in Manila is a burden to the provincianos. There is boat or air fare to consider, plus board and lodging and other expenses, not to mention adjusting to a new environment.
In 1974, my policeman father had to retire so he could use his lump sum retirement pay from the GSIS to send me to Manila for the pre-bar and the bar. Until now, I am burdened with guilt that my father was not able to enjoy a single centavo of the money that was supposed to tide him over during his sunset years as he gave everything to me, all of P8,000, to sustain me in the national capital for more than six months (the last Sunday of the exams was already in December).
The cost is probably twenty times more these days, still quite a fortune notwithstanding the hopelessly devaluing peso. I hope that the Supreme Court will consider this and take a kinder look at the proposal, first and long raised by UC Law Dean Estenzo, to hold the bar examinations not only in Manila but also in Cebu and eventually in other major cities like Davao and Baguio.
Logistical and security issues have been cited as reasons for the High Tribunal’s refusal to change its “Manila only” policy on the venue of the bar exams. Indeed, these are legitimate concerns but I’m sure they can be adequately addressed.
As the Tagalogs say, kung ayaw, maraming dahilan; kung gusto, maraming paraan.